South Korea's current account surplus hits record $49.73 billion on chip export boom

South Korea's current account surplus continued its all-time high record-breaking streak in June, driven by strong exports of semiconductors, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The surplus totalled $49.73 billion in June, up from the previous record of $38.61 billion in May, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), reports Yonhap news agency.

It marked the largest monthly current account surplus ever and followed up on unprecedented performance for the second consecutive month.

Compared with the same month a year earlier, the figure surged from $13.97 billion.

South Korea has reported a current account surplus every month since May 2023, making June the 38th consecutive month the balance has been in the black.

For the first six months of the year, current account surplus totalled a cumulative $191.01 billion, marking the largest half-year surplus on record.

The reading is far larger than the BOK's earlier projection of $151.5 billion for the six-month period and nearing the annual target of $250 billion.

In 2025, the country posted its largest annual surplus on record at $123.05 billion, exceeding the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015.

The goods account posted a surplus of $47.89 billion in June, marking the largest monthly record, as exports surged 84.5 percent on-year to $112.37 billion, surpassing $100 billion for the first time. Imports went up 38.6 percent to about $64.48 billion.

Exports of information technology products skyrocketed 160.4 percent from a year earlier, including a 196.9 percent surge in chip shipments and a 282.7 percent rise in computer peripherals.

The services account recorded a deficit of $1.29 billion in June, widening the loss from the previous month's $1.09 billion on increasing intellectual property-related payments.

The travel account logged a surplus of $440 million in June, marking the second-largest surplus following $450 million set in October 2008, thanks to a surge in foreign tourists and a decline in Korean overseas travellers amid a weakening local currency and higher jet fuel prices.

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